“This resentment runs deep and is stunningly widespread” I am going to offer an alternative here. The reason why the resentment runs deep and is widespread is

“This resentment runs deep and is stunningly widespread” I am going to offer an alternative here. The reason why the resentment runs deep and is widespread is that we are beyond "peak App Store". While Apple's revenue on services and the App Store is probably still growing it is because there are still more and more developers piling on. For the average developer, the golden days of the App Store are long gone. The revenue has been declining for a long time and competition is still getting stiffer. That creates resentment. Being able to receive a micro-payment of just one dollar and being listing in a potentially powerful marketing channel - the App Store - is a huge bon and something the web cannot offer. Paying 30% for that is reasonable, even cheap. Should Apple offer discounts for big businesses such as Facebook, Google, Basecamp? Let them have a fee of less than 30%? Maybe. But that will not make Apple more popular amongst average developers. Mr. dhh is a smart guy and a master nerd manipulator. He knows that the app offering of his new product is not that important and things are ripe for a smackdown of Apple. Also a little conflict helps getting attention on his new product. So he brings this up now even though Basecamp has had stuff in the App Store for years.